


The Ex, the Next, and Drinking Away the Stress

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: The Heart of the Matter [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-09
Updated: 2013-03-09
Packaged: 2017-12-04 17:28:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/713229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“On advice of counsel, I refuse to answer citing my Fifth Amendment right under the United States Constitution against self-incrimination.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ex, the Next, and Drinking Away the Stress

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to Hit the Road Jack. I don’t want to say this is a series yet but you have to read that story and A Long Way to Happiness to know what's happening. Even though Dave isn’t physically in this story he is discussed so I tagged it with his name to keep track of the stories.

Jack nuzzled her neck and loved the way she laughed. Erin wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. He growled as he nuzzled more, cracking her up.

“Jack! Oh God stop!”

“Do you really want me to stop?” he looked into her eyes.

Erin shook her head and the nuzzling continued. They didn’t have to be quiet tonight. Her thirteen year old son and fifteen year old daughter were with their father for the weekend. She was sure that Eli wasn’t around but the kids rarely complained. Off they went, every other weekend and one month in the summer. Jack never spent the night when Erin’s family was there. It wasn’t always easy for the couple but they stuck to the rules.

“My tempestuous Contessa.” He kissed her lips.

“Tempestuous?”

“Sometimes you are. Don’t get me wrong, I like it.”

“You're lucky that I love you.”

“Yes I am.” Jack smiled. “I'm a lucky, lucky man.”

“Why me?” Erin asked. She fought asking that, aloud, for the entirety of their relationship. Once the answer was out there neither one could go back to their blissful ignorance. “Why now Jack?”

“What do you mean?”

“You're 53 years old. What made you want to settle down now?”

“It’s well known that marriage reflects better as one rises in political rank.” He replied.

“Jack,” she punched his arm. “You're not funny.”

“I'm a little bit funny. C'mon, admit it, I'm at least a little funny.”

“Maybe just a little.” Erin held her thumb and forefinger close together. “But I'm asking a serious question.”

“I liked being a bachelor. Maybe it was fear…I didn’t want to lose the freedom or some such. But when you truly fall in love, it’s not about what you lose. You gain much more. I could live in sin; I don’t mind one bit. You deserve better than that.”

“And you're not doing what you think you should or what you think I want?”

“What's the matter, Erin?” he caressed her face.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head.

“Are you getting cold feet? Do you not want to get married?”

“I want to get married.” She sighed. “Sometimes my brain is my worst enemy. I can over think things that are actually quite simple.”

“We don’t have to think at all tonight.”

“Did you have something else in mind, Mr. Coleman?”

Jack wrapped his arms around her as they slid further down on the mattress. Erin loved their closeness and the smell of Hanae Mori cologne on his skin. The man smelled so damn good. The idea of her sheets and pillows always smelling like her fiancée made her shiver with delight.

“Mmm hmm, I do.” he unbuttoned her pajama top, kissing her collarbone.

“I'm open to any and all suggestions at this time.” Erin smiled as she lifted the tee shirt over his head.

“Any?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “Are we upping the ante tonight, Agent Strauss?”

“Shut up and make love to me.”

***

“There's something I want to talk to you about.”

“Oh God,” Erin rolled her eyes. “You butter me up with sex and then drop your addiction to gambling and hookers.”

“You're on a roll tonight.” Jack smiled.

They lay side by side in her bed, their bodies flushed from a very healthy round of lovemaking. Jack had been with more adventurous women in his time. They were anywhere from free to thousands of dollars. He wouldn’t call Erin boring. She had a hearty sexual appetite even if he was well aware there were places she wouldn’t go. 

It was probably better that she didn’t. He hadn't stepped out since they got together over two years ago. While Jack wasn’t looking for kudos, and had never said as much to her, he had cheated on past lovers. He liked variety. It was quite surprising initially that Erin gave him everything he needed. 

Something was there that was more than sex. It was intimacy on a level he’d feared treading in the past. She soothed the raging fire in Jack’s belly. It wasn’t completely extinguished…it probably never would be. But a calm had come over him since Erin came into his life.

“Actually, I want to ask you a personal question first. You don’t mind do you?”

“No.” Erin shook her head.

“Were you and Dave Rossi lovers?”

“It was many, many moons ago Jack.” Her stomach dropped just thinking about him. If Dave had said anything to Jack about their past, she was going to kill him. It would be slow, painful, and satisfying. “I was new in the FBI the first time around. It was before I was married.”

“There was more than one time?”

“After Eli and I divorced, David and I fell into each other again. It was a mistake but I was in a bad place. I probably made a lot of them.”

“Alright.” Jack nodded.

“Did David say something to you?” Erin asked.

“No, I just sensed it. I appreciate you being honest with me.”

“I have nothing to hide…its ancient history. Past relationships aren’t easy to discuss but we’re getting married. Better to get the unattractive things out of the way now.”

“If you ever want to know about someone in my past all you have to do is ask.” Jack said. “I'm always going to be honest about it.”

Erin nodded and kissed him. That was probably a place she didn’t want to go. Everyone knew Jack Coleman was a ladies man so surely the list was longer than her arm. He was an incorrigible flirt even now. While Erin never feared he was cheating on her it was still an idea she didn’t want to fill her head with. And the thought that some of them might be colleagues or acquaintances was enough to make it a closed subject.

“There's something else I wanted to talk to you about.” Jack said.

“OK.”

“I have to go away for a little while.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s a project for the International Court of Justice.” He replied.

“Where are they sending you and how long will you be gone?” Erin asked.

“I’ll be at The Hague for approximately a month. There could be another project in Vienna as well but it should be no longer than a month. I'm sorry Erin.”

“Why are you apologizing? This is your work and I know how much it means to you. Do I want to be separated for a month? Not particularly, no. But I'm so proud that you're doing all these great things in the name of freedom.”

“I was quite honored to be handpicked by Madame Secretary.”

“Was this what the meeting with the Vice President was about a couple of weeks ago?” Erin asked.

“Yes and no.” Jack held her closer. “I leave on Wednesday. It’s an eight hour flight with a six hour time difference so I’ll probably be turned around for the first week I'm there. I guess it wouldn’t be a good thing to ask Dave to look after you while I'm gone, huh?”

“Absolutely not. I can look after myself Jack…I've been doing it for a long time.”

“Still, I would feel better if someone poked their head in on you from time to time. Left to your own devices, Erin Strauss, you would work yourself to the nub.”

“The pot should never call the kettle black, sweetie.”

“There's a big difference between busy and stressed out.” Jack said.

“I just drink the stress away. Poof and it’s gone like magic.”

Jack laughed. He kissed her and then held Erin in his arms as he relaxed on the mattress. It was difficult for him to imagine his fiancée with Dave Rossi. While he was a good guy and knew how to have a good time, he and Erin seemed to have little in common. 

That could be why the relationship didn’t work out twice. Jack wondered about her other lovers now. The list probably wasn’t a mile long; work seemed to capture her interest the most. Still, he wondered how many he might know. Political circles in the capital were small.

“You're not relaxed.” Erin whispered.

“I'm thinking.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Dave Rossi.”

“Don’t do that Jack. Please don’t do that.”

“I’d probably be jealous of any man who's been with you. I’ll get over it.”

“I'm not with David, I'm with you. I love you”

“You don’t have to stroke my ego, love.” Jack kissed her forehead.

“I don’t tell you that to stroke your ego. I tell you because I love you.”

“Did you love Dave?”

Erin took a deep breath. The couple finally had some time alone and they were talking about David Rossi. Something was very wrong with that scenario. Erin was willing to do anything but that. Hell, what she really wanted was to go to sleep. They’d made wonderful love and then she was slammed twice. The third time was definitely not the charm.

“On advice of counsel, I refuse to answer citing my Fifth Amendment right under the United States Constitution against self-incrimination.”

“Wow, really?” Jack laughed.

“Go to sleep, Jack.”

“Do you want to go out for breakfast in the morning?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“I love you too, Erin.”

She held him tighter and closed her eyes. It was going to be harder now to stop thinking about David and sleep. Erin would try her absolute best. Jack might not be able to let it go but she would. She’d done it before and would do it again.

***


End file.
